DUDLEY, Mass. (May 7, 2025) – The WNE softball program was in Dudley, Massachusetts, for the first round of the CNE postseason conference tournament. They took on the Wentworth Institute of Technology. After trailing by four twice in the game, the Golden Bears would hit their way back into the game. They trailed by two going into the seventh and final inning. Riley Kane and Kim Baumann had hits that led to a tie game before Ava Barnhart hit a walk-off single to send WNE to the winner's bracket quarterfinal game versus Nichols College, 8-7. Game two saw Nichols College grab a 3-0 lead, but a homerun from Alex Ferriouolo, a double from Nicolina Salanto, and a game-winning single from Ava Barnhart, once again, gave WNE the comeback win, 4-3.

Game 1: Western New England 8, Wentworth Institute of Technology 7

Ava Blanchard started the first-round matchup for the Golden Bears. Blanchard saw five batters in the first inning. Two WIT runners reached base, but Blanchard got the final out via a groundout to third base. WIT pitcher Jess Rowe saw three batters and sat all three down in the bottom of the first, with WNE as the designated home team since they were the higher seed. Rowe gave the Leopards the lead in the top of the second with a leadoff home run that sailed way over the left-field fence. Brianna Miller doubled the lead with an RBI single down the left-field line. That brought a runner home, and WNE trailed 2-0 with no outs in the second. Lexi Leftkowski then hit a double to right field and brought home two runners. Leftkowski was then thrown out at second after going past the base. The runner on third would try to go home on the throw to second but was thrown out at home, with Angelees Carrasquillo tagging the runner out. After a double from the ensuing batter with two outs, Evelyn Picone entered the game as the WNE pitcher and got the final out of the inning for WNE. Rowe shut the Golden Bears down one, two, three once again in the bottom of the inning, and WNE trailed 4-0 after the second inning. The third saw Picone see four batters and sit down three, with the final batter getting struck out. The bottom of the third saw WNE cut the WIT lead in half thanks to a one-out double to left field from Marley Rodriguez. That hit drove Ava Barnhart and Kim Baumann home. WNE trailed 4-2 after three innings. The Leopards would answer, though. It started with a no-out, runners on first and second double. Lexi Leftkowski hit a single to center field to record the RBI. Picone and the Golden Bears got two outs after that before Jess Rowe hit a single to left field, scoring one more run. WNE trailed 6-2 when they went to the plate in the bottom of the fourth. The Golden Bears would respond with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Riley Kane was driven home by an Alex Ferriouolo single to right center field. Then, after two outs from Jess Rowe and the Leopards, Shea McDaniel hit a single to third base. After an errant throw, Alex Ferriouolo and Kim Baumann were brought home. The Golden Bears trailed 6-5 after the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Riley Kane entered the pitching circle for the Golden Bears. Kane made quick work of the Leopards with one, two, three inning. Julia Malowitz then entered the game for the Leopards and got three outs versus four WNE batters. Then, Jess Rowe would give the new WIT pitcher an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out, two-on single to the pitcher. That gave Wentworth a 7-5 lead. WNE got runners to second and third with two outs. However, Malowitz would get the final batter to ground out, and WNE only had three more outs to extend their time in Dudley, Massachusetts. Kane sat down three batters in the top of the seventh, and WNE went to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, trailing by two runs. That did not discourage the Golden Bears. The first two batters walked, bringing Maddy Longoria into the game for the Leopards as their pitcher. The very next batter, Riley Kane, sent a single up the middle of the infield, which drove Angelees Carrasquillo home. Then, with the Golden Bears down to their final out and with runners on first and second, Kim Baumann launched a double into right field. That brought Alex Ferriouolo home, and the game was tied. The Golden Bears would not settle for extra innings, though. The very next batter, Ava Barnhart, hit a single into left-center field, which brought Nicolina Salanto, and Barnhart won the game for WNE and sent them to game two of the day versus Nichols College, 8-7.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears were led by three 2-for-3 performances. Riley Kane went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. Kim Baumann went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. Ava Barnhart went 2-for-2 with an RBI.
• Marley Rodriguez had the other extra-base hit, a double.
• Ava Barnhart had the walk-off single to send WNE to the quarterfinals of the CNE tournament versus Nichols College.
• The three WNE pitchers pitched seven innings, giving up 14 hits, seven earned runs, and picked up one strikeout.
• The Leopards were led by five batters who had two hits or more.
• Lexi Leftkowski and Jess Rowe each had three hits. Both batters also had three RBIs.
• Leftkowski had a double, Kyla Igawa had a double, and Jess Rowe had a home run for the Leopards.
• The three Leopard pitchers pitched seven innings, giving up seven earned runs, nine hits, and picked up one strikeout.
• WNE defeated WIT 8-7.

Game 2: Western New England 4, Nichols 3

Game two saw the Golden Bears pitch Evelyn Picone once again, and Chelsea Indyk entered the pitcher's circle for the Bison. The first inning saw Indyk sit the Golden Bears down one, two, three. Indyk got one strikeout in those first three batters. Then, the Bison opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first. It started with a one-out single to right field from Chloe Steiniger. That gave the Bison a 1-0 lead. With two outs and two runners on, Bailey Littlefield hit a single up the middle of the field, bringing a second run home. WNE trailed 2-0 going into the second after Picone got the final batter of the inning to strikeout. Riley Kane got the game's first hit for WNE, but Indyk would get the next batter out and get the final batter of the inning to hit into a double play to end the inning. Picone followed that with a strikeout, and although the Bison got two runners, one would get out of the inning without letting up a run. The third inning saw Indyk sit the Golden Bears down one, two, three once again, picking up another strikeout. Riley Kane entered the game as the WNE pitcher for the second game of the day. Kane sat the Bison down one, two, three, with the final batter striking out. The Golden Bears would get a runner on base in the fourth inning but could not get the runner home. The Bison would extend their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Alyssa Pericello hit a single to right center field, which gave the Bison a 3-0 lead. Pericello would get thrown out after the single while trying to get to second. Kane got the next two outs and got out of the inning. The Golden Bears chipped into the lead with a leadoff homerun for Alex Ferriouolo, who launched the homerun over the center field fence. Indyk got the next three batters out to bring the Bison up in the bottom of the fifth. Kane saw five batters in the bottom of the inning but would get three outs without another run scoring. Indyk sat the Golden Bears down one, two, three in the sixth inning. The Bison would get a runner on due to an error but could not get the runner home, thanks to Kane getting the third batter to strike out and the final batter to ground into a fielder's choice. Then, with the Golden Bears down to their final three outs once again, the Golden Bears prevailed. It started with two singles. Then, the Bison made a pitching change. Molly Medor entered the game. Medor struck out the first batter faced. However, a Nicolina Salanto double drove Alyssa Poisson home to cut the WNE deficit to one. Medor struck out the next batter, and WNE was down to their final out of the game. Ava Barnhart was once again the final hope for WNE. Barnhart came through in the clutch one more time for WNE. With two outs and two runners on base, Barnhart hit a single to right field and drove Kelsey Bouchard and Riley Kane home. WNE led 4-3. That is how the score would stay with the Bison now down to their final three outs in the bottom of the seventh. Riley Kane would see three batters and sit them down one, two, three to end the game and give WNE comeback win, 4-3.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears were led at the plate by Riley Kane, who went 2-for-3.
• Nicolina Salanto and Alex Ferriouolo had the extra-base hits for WNE. Salanto hit a double and Ferriouolo hit a homerun.
• The two WNE pitchers pitched seven innings, allowed seven hits and three earned runs, and struck out five batters.
• The Bison saw seven batters each get a hit for the team.
• Kyla Felicani had the lone extra-base hit for the Bison, which was a double.
• The Nichols College pitchers combined for seven innings pitched, allowing seven hits and four earned runs, and struck out four batters.
• WNE won game two versus Nichols College, 4-3.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears will move onto the semifinal round of the postseason tournament at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 2:30.